Globalization's Role in Communication

With the rise of information and communications technology or ICTs, our world has been shaped into a completely different place where many countries rely on technology and the internet.  As our society moves into an information age, the concept of globalization affects the world before us, connecting cities, provinces, and countries together with no worry about distance or time.  While globalization opens new doors for the possibilites of the world and further advancements in technology, it also acts as a set back to specific cultures national identity.  As I talked about previously, ICTs create an idea of control, as those who possess the knowledge(leading to money) are the ones who benefit most from ICTs.  This can be associated with culture and the lack of national identity that globalization has brought on.  Take for example universities as described in the book by Kevin Robbins and Frank Webster.  They argue with the new found reliance of ICTs, the typical national university is jeopardized as they are "ceasing to be essential to an increasingly transnational global economy."  The idea that universities represent a nation or a nation state is no more with the rise of virtual learning, distance education and information resources.  We no longer need to access the physical library as we have access on our computers.  As we continue to move through the information age, technology will be used more and more , eventually leading to little need in a physical institution.

What is more the rise of globalization and ICTs can affect a countries national identity in other ways, taking the control away from citizens and their day to day experiences with culture, and allowing corporations to define what culture means today.  Take Canada for example, with our proximity to the United States, the borders between our two countries have always been blurred and because of this we have been affected by American culture, and often identified as part of America.  With the rise of technology and globalization, culture products in American are constantly present in Canada such as television shows, movies, magazines, and internet sites.  As to combat the global market and further Americanization, Canada is forced to regulate technology and culture products, in order to keep our Canadian identity.  Culture used to be a way of life, but especially in the Western World, culture has turned into a commodity and a way to regulate how citizens should define culture.  With that being said if we did not have regulation laws in Canada on media sources, our national identity would become completely immersed into American culture.  ICTs are constantly becoming ways to control nations, as the media perpetuates what citizens should think.  As a result we as intellects need to be analytical to media sources, and instead decide for ourselves what we define as culture.

http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/From+marriage+spills+Canada+Party+hopes+solve+America+woes/7758257/story.html

Information Societies

To say that today we live in an information age we are referring to the simple fact that information can be found and shared easily through different sources of media such as the internet, television, and radio.  The information age or 'information societies' allocate to every citizen a voice, and a feeling of empowerment through freedom of speech.  Though our society has moved into the information age, it was not without criticisms throughout history that got us to where we are today.  In 1951 Innis criticized the use of information and it's correlation to our social, cultural, and economical growth, stating that information was not necessarily right for the well-being of humans.  Years later in 1986 information was subjected to scrutiny by Miles and Gershuny.  They believed that even if the coming information age did positively influence the economics of society, that it would only influence a specific amount of people instead of equally distributing information resources.  In my own opinion I believe there is validity in their arguments. In fact I believe that since human beings acquired knowledge, and with it technology, we have created a society of inequality.  This is because in society those who possess the knowledge hold the power and those who do not have the knowledge are belittled in society.  Though people are able to speak their minds through ICTs such as the internet, it is only those who possess the information resources that are thoroughly benefiting from the information age.  What is more through the popularity of the internet, an 'addiction' to information through ICTs is forming, and though people are able to voice their opinions, the internet becomes a form of control over the user.  Think about it, how do we know if the information we are getting through the internet is valid?  We blindly choose to believe everything ICTs are telling us, which gives the advantage to those who possess the knowledge.  They are essentially telling us what to think, not to mention what to buy through the bombardment of advertisements we are forced to view.  Their is little to no control to the commercial advertising simple because those in control do not see the need as they are benifiting financially.  Though technology and information has on the surface progressed our society, when you get down to it we probably had more freedom for our own thoughts before the post-industrial society.